Wednesday, January 07, 2009

assorted and sundry

We had sunshine this afternoon, lots of wind, reportedly a stunning double rainbow, and then a terrible hour of wind and rain that blew so hard and so steady I stood in the barn with the horses so I could deal with a crisis if one happened.

A lot of folks have had trees come down today, and I am never sure which is safer for the horses - pasture (with trees and electric lines and fences and blowing objects) or the barn, where they could be trapped if something fell in. Our vet says if the barn is solid, keep them in. I let the geldings have stall doors open, and I stood in with Salina and the donkeys.

They are all so good. The pony helped me hold the flashlight with his teeth. They stood quietly and the geldings watched the roaring wind out back. At one point, after dark, there was a big boom and the power went out. I had prepared for that by filling all the water buckets earlier, and I had the big flashlight. I discovered that I can hold the handle along with the rake handle while mucking, a sort of "muckrake headlight."

Fortunately the wind began to slow a bit and we had power back within two hours.

This was the odd light that came right before the dark skies, hardest wind, and rain blew in.



And while uploading that one, I found these from last week, that I'd forgotten all about. The stare down!



Salina modeling her new knee warmers. I highly recommend these - although a bit of an effort to get on and off, they are warm, can be easily doubled to make extra layers, and they stay where you put them w/o being too tight. They also wash and dry back to perfection. You can find them online by Googling Whinny Warmers.



And, more donkey play. Rafer likes to be the Boss Donkey. Redford seems to be just fine with it.

14 comments:

Mamie said...

Billie, it really was an odd day weather-wise. I saw one rainbow on my way home from work and the two halves of another on my way to a meeting. And before I left home, I grabbed my camera and took shots of the outdoor light in the trees. Very strange indeed. I had to laugh at my cat, who normally sleeps all day in a box lined with pillows in the garage. When I left to go out, the wind was at its peak, and he was sitting alert on a cardboard box under a desk stored in the garage. Chippy, the Tornado-Ready Cat!

Grey Horse Matters said...

We got the wind and ice yesterday afternoon too and lost power and cable for a few hours.
I've seen that eerie gold light right before a storm on occasion, I find it a little weird. Anyway, those donkeys are adorable the way they play. I've seen the leg warmers and they seem like a good idea. Hope we all have better weather soon. I'm sure the gang appreciates you hanging out with them during the storm.

Victoria Cummings said...

It's crazy weather all the way up the East Coast. I'll have to check out the leg warmers - for Silk, and for me since I'm the one sliding around on the ice while the horses are stuck inside the barn. Thanks for the info on the screens too. I love the wish book idea. Mine will probably fill two books!

billie said...

Mamie, that's hilarious. Our cats all came inside, and the oldest got beneath a sofa, which I've never seen him do. Dickens got inside a box, but he's been doing that for days, so it wasn't related to the wind. I was relieved when it quieted down last night, and now today looks much better.

billie said...

Arlene, I'm glad your power is back. I hope the storms up there have abated for at least a few days so everyone can dig/thaw out.

billie said...

Thanks, Victoria. My wish list feels like a Rolodex, with the top items always shifting and changing depending on the immediate needs.

Unless something shifts this month, I'm getting my tack room floor put in with wide plank flooring. After that I want to try the screens and stone in one area to see how well it works. I guess first I should price the square footage for all of it, since it's probably cheaper in the long run to get the screens shipped and the stone screenings delivered at one time.

It's fun to imagine getting it all done at once!

Anonymous said...

I love the Donkey photos and the picture of the beautiful light in the trees.

billie said...

Thanks, Matthew. It's interesting to me that many times beauty in nature is paired with something 'difficult.'

Drought and especially gorgeous fall color.

The odd beautiful light and extreme weather after.

Intense storms and gorgeous rainbows.

Etc.

Balance.

AnnL said...

Glad your power was back in just a few hours and you had no damage. The ice storm up here yesterday wasn't too bad, nasty ice but no wind so no power loss. Thank goodness, I did not want to go through that again!

billie said...

Thanks, Ann. It's good to hear you came through w/ no damage or power loss, esp. after the ordeal you had so recently!

ponymaid said...

Billie, is it just the photo or is yound Redford growing like a weed? I see Rafer is using the patented neck hold on his little brother. That's a classic and Doc still uses it on me sometimes. Sigh.

billie said...

Yes, Sheaffer, he is growing so fast. He still has the baby donkey face and is not quite the adult shape, but he's much taller and growing from hoof to ear.

I call the neck hold the donkey-go-round. They spend hours playing that every day.

Cody has tried it on Rafer a few times but Rafer always bucked his butt up into Cody's chest. I think the action from below surprises them, and they always back off!

Unknown said...

Dear Billie, Please call us at Sox For Horses, Inc.
We want to thank you for writing about us by donating some socks to your favorite horse rescue effort.
or drop me a note at info@whinnywarmers.com
and we will donate socks in your name.

Salina looks very cozy and quite nice in blue.

Warmest Regards, and Thanks!
Raymond Petterson- President

billie said...

Thank YOU! I have emailed you and am also copying the comment to a new and more prominent post so that everyone will see it.